The rubbish and recycling systems for the houses and flats in High Kingsdown are different. See below.
Note that from September 2026 a new system will be started, with green recycling boxes being replaced by red recycling bags.
See Bristol City Council website for details.
Until then...
High Kingsdown collection day is Friday, round B. Recycling is collected every week, general waste every two weeks. Bins should be put out by 7.00 am.
A calendar is available on the Bristol Waste Company web site. High Kingsdown is on the Friday-B round.
https://bristolwastecompany.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Christmas-Calendars-2025-Friday-B-week.pdf
You can also check the date of the next collection by entering your address at this Bristol Waste web site.
The small black boxes are for glass bottles and jars, and batteries, clothes and textiles, shoes, small electrical items etc.
The small green box is for most of your plastic packaging, all your tins, cans and metal lids. Note that soft plastic and carrier bags can be recycled at many supermarkets, including the HK Co-op.
Cardboard, paper and cartons including tetrapacs go in the blue canvas bag.
The small brown bins are for food waste of any kind. You can buy biodegradeable bags to put inside a kitchen caddy in your kitchen and when that is partially full put this into the brown bin. If you don't have any of these bins they can be ordered online from the council website.
The large black wheelie bin is for non-recyclable waste, which gets collected only alternate weeks. No food should be put in the wheelie bins.
Green garden waste wheelie bins are are available on subscription from Bristol City Council. These are generally collected on the Monday following a Friday black wheelie bin collection.
Alternatively, garden waste sacks can be purchased for ad hoc collection.
Refer to the Bristol Councils website for What goes in your bins and boxes and how to Order new bins, boxes and lids
Main collection points are: Little Paul Street, Alfred Place, Portland Street, Paul Street, St Michaels Hill from Myrtle Road to Paul Street and the entrance to High Kingsdown at Clarence Place. The Flats have their own recycling centre near the end of Oxford Street. Bristol Waste will collect from some of the small lanes but it helps them if containers are left at these main points.
Make sure all containers are clearly labelled with your house number to prevent them from going missing.
Please put out all bins and recycling containers by 7:00am on collection days and do not leave bins or boxes in the lanes after collection - take them back into your garden.
Please note that the bin men will only collect if the items in the bins are correctly sorted.
The system for the flats is different. The categories are different. There is a big Waste Area, which can get dirty. It is really important to try to keep it clean.
It makes sense to sort your rubbish before you carry it down from your flat to the rubbish area. Especially cardboard, best flattened in your apartment.
There are the following 6 categories:
Unsortable waste, which must be wrapped in black bags (obtainable from the Co-op) before being put in the lockable storage building within the collection area. [collection: Tuesday, Friday]
Bottles, rinsed [collection: Thursday]
Cans and plastic containers (nothing black) {collection: Thursday]
Food waste, only bio-degradable material, which goes in biodegradable bags (obtainable from the Co-op) [collection: Thursday]
Cardboard - all cardboard must be flattened [collection: Thursday]
Paper & newspaper [collection: Thursday]
In other words: recyclable are collected on Thursday, non-recyclables on Tuesday and Friday.
It is anti-social to dump waste beside collection bins. Please do not dump black bags, or indeed any bags, outside the waste containers.
To deal with the moving-out crisis, the Universities pay for additional waste collections by Bristol Waste, this is a specialist team not the regular waste team working in High Kingsdown on Fridays. In addition the University’s own team have also been collecting waste in the area.
It can take a little time for the teams to get to all areas – annually the University makes provision for these waste collections in partnership with the City Council during the moving out period.
Please try not to make the bins overflow
Unfortunately the regular collection crews are told not to touch any overflowing bins. So it has to be reported and collected separately - which obviously makes sense to someone somewhere. Overflowing bins get included in fly tipping - crazy but true!!
Missed collections:
Need to be reported before 5.00 on the day it is missed. 0117 922 2100
Dumping large objects in the flats' rubbish area is highly anti-social.
It is not the job of the Management Company (Hillcrest) to dispose of dumped objects. That's not how it works. Instead, Hillcrest call The Junk Busters at £150 per collection. That is paid by the flat owners, i.e., by us collectively.
Fly tipping should be reported to https://www.bristol.gov.uk/streets-travel/flytipping
Book a bulky household item collection on the Council's website.
The Compass Project on Gloucester Road will collect furniture they can sell: 0117 956 8873 Email: info@compassproject.org.uk.
Marie Curie will collect anything they can sell https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/local/charity-shops/gloucester-road.
Or try one of below, the council charge a small amount to take away bulky items but will take away several for the same price.
The SOFA Project Tel: 0117 954 3567 www.sofaproject.org.uk
Donate your unwanted furniture and electrical appliances to help those on benefits or low incomes furnish their homes - and keep reusable items out of landfill! The charitable organisation also provides work experience for unemployed people.
Freecycle www.freecycle.org or http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FreecycleBristol
Freecycle is a web-based network for giving away and acquiring stuff for free, including furniture, clothes, garden equipment... in fact, just about anything you think someone else might have a use for! The advantages of this network are that you can even get rid of items that aren't in great condition, and that you can arrange for the 'taker' to collect from you for free.
Bristol City Council Neighbourhood and Housing Services
Tel: 0117 922 3838
Phone the Neighbourhood and Housing Services customer service centre (or visit the Council's website) for advice on rubbish and recycling collections, including special collection of bulky items.
Bristol Council
Street Sweeping 0117 922 2100
Recycling 0117 903 1221
Refuse Collection 0117 922 2100
Collection of Bulky Items 0117 922 2100
Reporting Abandoned Vehicles 0117 222 2100
You can also order new bins, report missed collections or dispose of different types of waste like bulky household items via the Bristol City Council web site
https://www.bristol.gov.uk/residents/bins-and-recycling
Bristol Waste
The Bristol Waste web site has helpful information on waste and recycling:
Household guide https://bristolwastecompany.co.uk/household/
Guide for students https://bristolwastecompany.co.uk/household/university-student-recycling-guide/
Contact Bristol Waste via hello@bristolwastecompany.co.uk
Fix My Street
You can report many street issues like potholes, broken paving, blocked drains and faulty street lights through the FixMyStreet website or on the move using the handy FixMyStreet app. These reports go direct to the relevant council team and you can track their progress.